Monday, 23 March 2009

Do You Control Your Thoughts? Enjoying the Spirit of Inquiry

Editor's Note: This post contains affiliate links. Linda Clement only ever shares links to books she has read and believes are of value. No authors have been harmed in the sharing of these recommendations...I've been reading Byron Katie lately... I read her personal story of coming to her method probably nearly 20 years ago, but never thought to see if she'd written anything at the time....

and I just finished Who Would You Be Without Your Story?both of which I found fascinating and hard to put down. They reinforce things I've known for a long time, but don't really live and often forget entirely.

Hilariously, I had just finished a book recommended by my coach (The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Ben Zander), which reinforces exactly the same things. Then, about two days after I finished the last of them, I found an article in an Oprah magazine about why goal setting often doesn't work... which repeats the theme.I love synchronicity!What I Know

people (me included) are wrapped up in their thinking far more than they are engaged in what is really happening at any given moment

everything I believe about the world is a result of two things: my perception and my beliefs (thoughts) about my perceptions

there is no way to find out if another person experiences their world in the same way I do -- no way to find out if when I say 'that's yellow' and they agree if they see the same colour I do... everyone's brains construct 'reality' alone, and while we can agree on the labels there is no way to know if our brains share the perceptions

people's motives are always for the best -- no one gets up in the morning intending to mess up anyone's life, including their own, even if that is what happens throughout the day